This morning we were up bright and early, feeling a little worse for wear! Breakfast of ham and cheese toastie and fruit soon sorted us out and we were ready for our pick up at 9.45am. We were picked up by the 'Don't be a gringo, be a local' company who took us across Rio to Rocinha, a large favela in the hillside.

We were dropped off at the bottom of the hill and each boarded the back of a motorbike for a hair-raising journey throught the main road of the favela to the top of the hill. Once at the top, Daniella, our guide gave us a brief talk on the favela and the do's and don'ts whilst we were there, then we started to slowly make our way back to bottom.

We walked through tiny alleys and streets where houses upon houses were piled on top of each other, every nook and cranny was being used in some way, whether it be as an internet cafe, bar or just a rubbish tip! Our first stop was a a studio for some of the local graffiti artists, the views from the roof of the studio over the favela were jaw-dropping and the paintings that the artists had done were even more awesome. Next we continued our journey through the alleys, stopping every so often to be given a bit of information about the runnings of a favela. At one point a group of young boys played some instruments for us and we also stopped at some stalls where local women and children were selling their crafts, along the way we were welcomed by the school children who were all dying to have their photos taken, as they thought they would then be famous! Next stop was into a cake shop then we headed into a day care centre, which was funded by the tour company. The children were adorable and the facilities were fantastic, giving the parents of each child the opportunity to go out and work without having to worry about childcare.

Once we had finished coo-ing over the babies we headed out of the favela, through the drug dealing area, where we were warned to put our cameras away and not buy anything! Soon we were back on the bus and heading back to the hostel.

Once we returned to Mellow Yellow we had very little time before our second tour of the day, Sunset at the Christ Redeemer statue. We headed on the bus with Hugh, our english guide through the streets of Rio, taking longer than expected as some roads were closed due to 'security issues'. Finally we reached the statue and were amazed at the view over the city and surrounding hills and the size of the big man himself! We took many photos and had a little wander before heading halfway back down the hill to a heliport to watch the sunset over the city with Christ Redeemer looking down on us from one side and overlooking the sugar loaf mountain on the other. A perfect view and a gorgeous sunset.

Back at the hostel were enjoyed Chilli for tea and a few cocktails before getting ready to hit the town! At 12.30am (way past our bedtime!) we piled onto a minibus and headed towards the Lapa area for a street party. The area was packed full of about 10,000 people and there were stalls all along the streets selling everything from beer and cocktails to sweets and noodles. Not long after we got there we lost Janice and spent the next 30 minutes panicking before finally finding her safe with some other people from the hostel. We enjoyed a drink and wandered through the party, on our guard all the time before we headed home around 4.00am and slumped into bed.